Date Night
by Frolic Acid
Summary: Abhijeet and Dr Tarika decide to go on a date... not with each other but with different persons. What does the night have in store for them? Two shot. My first Abhirika dedicated to Originals143. I really hope you like this. Fingers crossed :D
1. Chapter 1

**Date Night**

The atmosphere in the CID bureau was tense. Abhijeet was busy putting important information on the whiteboard which they had gathered so far about the murder which had taken place the previous day and the others had gathered around to listen, as Freddy narrated the timeline post the discovery of the murder.

"A courier guy delivering an unidentified parcel was killed as a speeding car hit him at 10.15 am. There were several eyewitnesses as the incident took place in broad daylight on a busy street. So luckily we have the number plate of the car. The car was reported stolen three hours before the murder." said Freddy.

"Okay, so we have the details of the person who sent the courier, correct?" asked Abhijeet.

"Yes. The courier was sent by Mr Kumar a man about age seventy five. He had no idea what the parcel was. His son Mohan,who was serving a jail sentence for corporate espionage had given him the parcel for safekeeping before he went to serve his sentence in jail. Yesterday, Mohan called his father and asked him to send the courier to ACP Pradyuman. Mr Kumar assigned the job to his maid. Our killer was supposedly keeping an eye on the courier's office. As soon as the courier guy left from the office, our killer ran him over with his car, stole the parcel and ran away"

"Do we have any description of our killer?" asked Abhijeet.

"Nope. He was wearing a mask. Nobody saw his face" said Daya.

"And the car was found abandoned in the nearby forest, right?"

"Yes. Dr Tarika is checking it for clues" said Pankaj.

"And then, another body turns up. Mr. Kumar's son, Mohan." said Abhijeet.

"Yes. Shot as he was leaving the jail premises" said Daya.

"Our killer didn't want to take any risks. If Mohan had found out that the parcel was stolen before it reached ACP sir, he would have approached the police himself so to be safe our killer shot him too" said Freddy.

"Yes. But I don't understand, why he insisted the package to be sent before he was released from prison" said Daya.

"Maybe he knew his life was in danger. Let's go and pay a visit to the incharge of the prison where Mohan was serving sentence. Maybe someone came to meet him there and threatened him?" said Abhijeet.

"Yeah we should do that" said Daya.

The bureau doors swung open, announcing the arrival of Dr Tarika.

"Hello there" Abhijeet greeted her with a pleasant smile. "I am sure you have got something interesting for us"

"Unfortunately that is not a case Abhije- TRING!" Abhijeet's cellphone rang interrupting their conversation.

"Hey, Akira" Abhijeet spoke, his eyes lighting up with a smile. He moved away from them yo talk.

Everyone turned to look at Abhijeet.

"-ofcourse I remember. How can I forget this?"

...

"-yeah, yeah great. I will pick you up by 7.30 pm. I am really looking forward to this evening. Yeah. Yeah. Bye!"

Disconnecting the call, he walked back to his collegues, smiling slightly.

"Still responding to your fan mail?" said Tarika, rolling her eyes.

"What fan mail?" asked Freddy looking confused.

"You remember Abhijeet's interview was in the newspaper last week? Since then he has been receiving lot of phone calls and fan mails raving about how courageous and brave Abhijeet is.

"You forgot goodlooking" said Abhijeet, causing Daya to snigger.

"Yeah, yeah, alright goodlooking then" said Tarika rolling her eyes once again.

"So what did this Akira say? Any new adjectives, she showered you with?" asked Tarika.

"Akira wasn't a fan! She is my date tonight. She was just calling to confirm" said Abhijeet.

"What?" said Daya.

"A date?" said Tarika.

"Yeah" said Abhijeet casually.

"But - but" Daya said looking from Tarika to Abhijeet. "Since when did you start on going dates? And you never told me about this Akira"

"Akira is a friend of my first cousin. My cousin said Akira wanted to meet me since a long time so she set us up. I am meeting her today for the first time." said Abhijeet.

"Uh - huh" said Tarika.

Daya was looking from one to other, a small smile playing in his lips.

"Okay, so I think we should hurry up with the investigation. You don't want to be late for your date, do you?" said Tarika, her voice suddenly businesslike.

"Yes yes ofcourse. You are right. So what you got?" Abhijeet asked her.

"The killer was careful enough not to leave any fibres or fingerprints in the car. I have nothing which will help you in the investigation. There were traces of blood on the front tyre. And it matches with the victim. It must have got on the tyres when the car hit the victim." said Tarika.

"So, it's a dead end." said Daya looking glum.

"Yes. We are still working on the port mortem of the other body - that of Mr Mohan. I'll tell you as soon as I have the reports ready" said Tarika.

"Very well then. I think we should go and meet the prison incharge where Mohan was serving his sentence." said Abhijeet.

"Okay, go on I'll grab my gun and come" said Daya.

Abhijeet, Freddy and Pankaj walked out of the bureau. Tarika was about to leave when Daya stopped her.

"Tarika, um... you know I am sure it's just a friendly meet" he said.

"What?" said Tarika.

"Abhijeet and Akira I mean-"

"Oh, it's fine" said Tarika waving her hand airily. "It's his life. I can't see why you are bothered"

"Um.. well... okay" said Daya.

"You know, Abhijeet is right. We should have a social life. We are hanging out with murderers and dead bodies all the time. We should really go out and meet people. I think I should ask Vaibhav if he is interested in dinner tonight" said Tarika.

There she goes. I knew she wouldn't like Abhijeet going out with another girl. Daya thought.

"Tarika, look you don't have to do this. You can just tell Abhijeet-"

"Hey, no, no, no" Tarika laughed. "It's not what you think" she said reading Daya's thoughts correctly.  
"I really don't have any problem if Abhijeet goes on a date with Akira" she said and walked away leaving Daya standing alone.

* * *

"Okay, so Mohan was a medical professional and he left his former job to join UV Industries a multinational Pharma company." said Pankaj.

The CID team was back in the bureau, discussing the new info which they had gathered.

"Yeah, and the UV industries manager found out that Mohan was planted as a corporate spy in UV industries by his former employer so they would know the trade secrets of UV Industries" said Daya.

"The former employer of Mohan was a private company which was not doing very well. It was on verge of closure. They were developing a drug to stop cancer growth but the tests yeilded negative results. They had put a lot of money in developing this drug so they incurred huge losses. So as one last resort to save the sinking company, they planted Mohan into UV industries, who was developing a similar drug. Mohan's job was to win their confidence and then provide inside information to the former employer." said Abhijeet.

"And then the CEO of UV Industries found out that Mohan was a corporate spy. So Mohan was fired from his job and legal action was taken on him. And then he was sentenced for ten years in prison.

"Sir-" Purvi a walked into the CID Bureau.

"Yes, Purvi" said Abhijeet.

"Sir, there is something weird going on. I checked Mohan's bank details and two months after Mohan was put in jail till his release yesterday, Mohan has been receiving steady payments from a company called SV Industries which happens to be an associate company of UV Industries" said Purvi.

"What? Why would SV industries pay Mohan even after he was guilty of committing a fraud?" said Abhijeet pondering over this new information.

"Something is not right sir. Is it merely a coincidence or were the payments deliberately made by an associate company so as to cover the name of UV Industries?" asked Freddy.

"You are right Freddy. Something is fishy here. Did anyone withdraw the money from Mohan's bank account? A family member maybe?" asked Abhijeet.

"Yes, Mohan's son. He lives abroad but he has agreed to video chat with us tonight at 9 pm." said Purvi.

"Great, Pankaj and Freddy, I want you to find out Mohan's friends or collegues both in his former company and new company. Question them. Maybe Mohan must have said something to them." said Abhijeet.

"I doubt whether they will be able to remember anything now. It has been ten years. And Mohan's former company has went out of business four years ago" said Daya.

"Yeah but worth a shot. Keep me posted you two" said Abhijeet to Freddy and Pankaj.

"I will talk to Mohan's son. Let's see if he can tell us why Mohan was still receiving payment indirectly from UV industries" said Purvi.

"What about Mohan's wife?" askes Daya.

"She passed away a year after Mohan was imprisoned. Mohan father has no idea about this. We can only talk to his son." said Purvi.

The bureau door swung open and Dr Tarika walked in.

"Still here Abhijeet? Aren't you getting late for your date with Akira? It's almost - excuse me" said Tarika as her cellphonw rang.

"Hi Vaibhav" said Tarika on the phone.

Abhijeet turned to look at Tarika as she walked away towards the window.

"Vaibhav? The guy who comes to the Lab sometimes?" asked Abhijeet.

"Yes" said Daya.

"Why is he calling her?" asked Abhijeet, his still on Tarika.

"I don't know" said Daya.

"You don't know?" Abhijeet said sounding irritable and finally turning his eyes back on Daya. "How could you not know?"

"Tarika is not my girlfriend. How would I know about her personal stuff?" said Daya.

"Hurry up Tarika" Abhijeet called across the room, impatiently. "I have to leave!"

"Hey, you don't have to wait if you are getting late, okay? I will talk to her and fill you in later about the case's progress." Daya offered.

"Is she twirling her hair?" Abhijeet asked.

"What?" said Daya and looked at Tarika. Sure enough she was twirling her finger in her hair and smiling.

Two minutes later she walked towards Abhijeet and Daya looking very happy about something.

"You know this restaurant La cirque? How is it? Anyone been there?" she asked.

"You will never get a seat there. It's always full. Ofcourse it's not difficult if you have contacts" said Abhijeet proudly. "You see, I have been of certain help to the hotel owner in the past. So one call from me and violà, you will get a booking. I'll take you someti-"

"Thank you Abhijeet. That's really sweet of you. But now we should get back to work fast. You see I too have plans for the evening" said Tarika.

"Really? What plans?" asked Abhijeet.

"I am going out for dinner. With Vaibhav" said Tarika smiling. "Okay murder weapon was a gun which caused Mohan's death -"

"Since when did you start going to dinner with Vaibav?" Abhijeet interrupted in a slightly raised voice.

"Since now" said Tarika. Turning her attention back to Daya she said, " Three bullets were fired from a close range which-"

"I didn't know you were on talking terms with him" said Abhijeet not paying attention to a word Tarika was saying about the bullets.

"He is a good friend of mine Abhijeet. I was free this evening so I asked him if we could meet and he said we could go to dinner" said Tarika. "All three bullets hit him in the chest killing him immediately. He was dead before he even realised what happened" she continued speaking to Daya as if there had been no interruption.

"Anything else?" asked Daya.

"No, the murder weapon is obviously with the killer. So that's all at the moment." said Tarika.

"Okay" said Daya. "Thanks Tarika. Enjoy your evening"

"Oh, thank you" Tarika said flashing Daya a genuine smile. "Oh and if you need anything, I will be available on my cellphone. Dr Salunkhe is in the lab so it shouldn't be a problem"

"Okay" said Daya.

"Well, see you guys tomorrow then. Have a nice date Abhijeet" Tarika said.

"Yeah, you too" said Abhijeet rather forcibly.

As the door swung shut behind Tarika, Abhijeet turned to Daya to find him smirking.

"What?" Abhijeet snapped at him.

"I think I smell jealousy in the air" said Daya smirking more broadly.

"Excuse me? You've got to be kidding me. I don't care who she goes out with. It's her life." said Abhijeet in an offhand voice.

"You know what? Both of you say the same things and yet I think you guys don't really mean it" said Daya.

"Oh, cut it out. I don't have time for such petty conversations. I have a date with a beautiful girl tonight" said Abhijeet in a satisfied sort of a way.

"That's great buddy." Daya said slapping him in the back. "Go and have fun. I think I will revisit the crime scene and ask around a bit if anyone has seen Mohan's killer. And then I am thinking of paying a visit to the CEO of UV Industries."

"Yeah, you do that. Hey, keep me posted. I will wait for your call" said Abhijeet.

"You sure your date won't mind if you answer work calls?" asked Daya with a playful smile.

"Oh no, I am sure she will be very understanding" said Abhijeet.

"Lucky you. Charming date you've got" said Daya.

"Adiòs buddy. Later" said Abhijeet and walked out of the bureau.

 **A/N - Next chapter will be posted shortly :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Date Night**

 **Chapter 2**

Abhijeet had put on his best suit for the evening. He had reached Akira's house well before time and they had shared a very chatty and an entertaining journey till they reached the restaurant.

While Akira was busy admiring the restaurant's ambience, Abhijeet scanned the crowd and then he saw her. Smiling slightly to himself, he began to walk towards his right, Akira tailing close behind.

"Hi Tarika" Vaibhav's voice came from right behind her.

"Oh hey! I was looking for you. I hope I am not late" said Tarika.

"Oh no you aren't. I came just a few minutes ago" said Vaibhav.

Tarika looked around the restaurant in awe. "This place is just beautiful. Good choice"

"Heh thanks" said Vaibhav. "Shall we sit down? Our table is book right there around the corner"

Seconds later they had made themselves comfortable sitting around a wooden table.

"Wow, tonight feels just great. Away from the usual surroundings" said Tarika.

"Told you" Vaibhav said smiling. "We should do this often you know get away from routine"

"Sure thing. I am in definitely" said Tarika.

"Shall we order?" Vaibhav asked.

"Oh yes. What would you like to have?" Tarika questioned, scanning the menu card.

"Italian is good here. Pasta?" Vaibhav asked.

"Yeah, mix sauce and something with baby corns in it would do if it is fine with you?" Tarika said.

"Yeah, fine with me. Let's ask the waiter what options do we have with this combination" said Vaibhav.

They placed the order and then Vaibhav said, "You look different tonight"

"Different huh? How?" Tarika asked.

"I don't know I can't quite put my finger on but you look relaxed and happy" said Vaibhav.

"I am -" "Hey Tarika! Hi!" A different but familiar voice floated towards her.

Tarika turned around in her seat to find Abhijeet walking toward her followed by a pretty girl.

"Abhijeet sir, hello this is a surprise" Vaibhav said with a broad smile.

Tarika's frown widened as Abhijeet drew closer and she stood up as he reached their table.

"Abhijeet? What are you doing here?" Tarika asked him, her face screwing up in anger.

"I came here for dinner ofcourse!" Abhijeet said and then turned to Vaibhav, "Nice to see you!" he said.

"How are you sir? I read your interview in the paper last week. I have been telling all my friends how lucky I am to have had the chance to work with you" said Vaibhav.

"Oh, thanks Vaibhav. But don't flatter me too much" said Abhijeet and both of them laughed.

"Your colleagues?" the girl accompanying Abhijeet spoke for the first time.

Tarika observed that she was of average height and very slim. She was kinda good looking.

"Ah yes, I forgot to introduce you- uh this is Vaibhav and Dr Tarika, they work in our forensic department and this is Akira, my friend"

Tarika mumbled a feeble "Hi" to Akira and then turned to Abhijeet. "Mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure" said Abhijeet

"Alone" Tarika said through gritted teeth.

Once they were out of earshot of both their respective partners, Tarika said, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I told you, I am here for dinner" said Abhijeet coolly

"I can't believe this Abhijeet! You are stalking me! This is outrageous!" Tarika snarled under her breath so people sitting nearby would not hear them.

"Excuse me, I wasn't stalking you! How can you make such insane accusations!" Abhijeet snapped.

"This is not insane! You knew I was going to come here. I asked you about this restaurant in the bureau!" Tarika muttered in an undertone.

"You asked me how the restaurant was. You never told me you and Vaibhav were going to come here!" Abhijeet said in similar tone.

"Oh god you are such an ass Abhijeet! Don't you dare lie to me. I was not born yesterday!" Tarika snapped at him.

"Oh shut up! It was merely a coincidence. And why on earth would I stalk you?" Abhijeet asked her.

"Oh you are just jealous that I found a date too!" Tarika said furiously.

"Oh Please! I am not jealous. I have a very beautiful date. Just look at that girl-"

"Oh, I am straight thank you."

"That's not what I meant!"

"I don't care what you meant. All I care is that you followed me out here just to ruin my dinner date!" Tarika said in raised voice.

"No I didn't follow you. Don't you accuse me of-"

"You know what? I know you are never going to accept this so I am going to go and enjoy my dinner. But I am not done with this" she said and walked back towards their table.

"Fine! I am not done with this either!" Abhijeet called after her loudly.

"Is everything alright?" Akira asked as Tarika walked back to her chain looking daggers followed by an equally angry looking Abhijeet.

"Yes, everything is perfectly fine" said Abhijeet smiling at Akira. "Well, lets not starve ourselves anymore. Enjoy your dinner Vaibhav" he said and led Akira away.

"Are you sure everthing is fine?" Akira repeated. "You two seemed to be having a heated discussion"

"Oh it was just something about the case which we are currently working on" said Abhijeet.

"Okay, cool" said Akira. "I hope you don't mind if we order wine? Technically you are off duty, aren't you?" she asked as they took their reserved seats in the restaurant.

"Fine with me. Absolutely." said Abhijeet.

"Sparkling?" Akira prompted.

"Yes" said Abhijeet as Akira scanned the bar menu. "You know I never thought it would be so easy to talk to you. I was quite apprehensive to meet you actually"

Akira laughed. "Me too. I thought you would a boring, old CID officers. You know a little serious type"

Before Abhijeet could reply, his cellphone rang. He saw Purvi's name flashing on the screen.

"Do you mind if I take this call? It's a bit urgent" Abhijeet said.

"Oh, go ahead. It's fine really" Akira said.

"Thanks" said Abhijeet and pressed the answer button. "Yes Purvi"

"Sorry sir. I didn't want to disturb you but Daya sir wasn't answering so I had to call you" Purvi said in a hurried voice.

"No problem at all. Tell me. You got somehing from Mohan's son?" Abhijeet asked.

"No sir he didn't even know that the payment was being made by SV  
Industries. He began to withdraw those funds two years ago when he lost his job due to recession. He got another job but it wasn't paying him well so Mohan told him to withdraw from his bank account." said Purvi in a defeated tone.

"Hmm. Is Daya back yet? Or have you heard anything from him?" Abhijeet asked.

"No sir not yet. But I got a call from Pankaj. He too couldn't gather much from Mohan's collegaues or friends. So that's another dead end. I really hope Daya sir finds something else we will never be able to progress on this case" said Purvi.

"Yeah you are right. I really hope Daya finds some leads. Anyway, if Daya calls with anything or if you get any new update on this one then let me know, okay?" said Abhijeet.

"Yes sir, I will" said Purvi.

Exactly a minute after Purvi had disconnected the call, Abhijeet's cellphone began to ring again. This time, it was Daya.

"Yes Daya?" Abhijeet asking his heart thudding loudly.

"It was Raghu, Abhijeet. He killed Mohan" said Daya.

"Raghu the contact killer? But as far as I am aware, he is hard to get unless you pay him huge amount of money." said Abhijeet.

"Exactly. Once I get hold of Raghu, we will know" said Daya in a menancing voice.

"How did you know it was Raghu?" asked Abhijeet.

"One of our informers happened to be in the area when the shooting happened. He called me just to make me aware about it. I have told him to tail Raghu. Pankaj and Freddy have gone with him He is postive, he will have Raghu in some time." said Daya.

"Great, so once we get hold of Raghu, we will know who the hell is behind all this. Unless ofcourse the person has decided to approach Raghu in clandestine manner." said Abhijeet.

"Well, let's hope for the best. It has been an hour now since our informant called me. Still haven't got any news from him. Anyway I will get back to you if he calls" suid Daya.

"Sure" said Abhijeet.

"Sorry" he added to Akira as he disconnected the phone the second time.

"Work call again?" asked Akira sipping her wine.

"Can't help it. My job requires me to be on duty at all times" said Abhijeet shrugging.

"Hmmm.. married to work, that's what you call it" said Akira.

"Yeah" said Abhijeet. "Like I said. Can't help it"

"So what happens when your job divorces you?" Akira asked.

Abhijeet frowned a little. "I don't think that's ever gonna happen. I love my work"

"Ofcourse I have no doubts about that. But at some point in your life you will have to retire. Then what will you do? You don't have family so how will you pass all the spare time?"

"Why do I feel like I am being questioned by a woman looking for prospective grooms?" Abhijeet asked smiling softly.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I am just curious" said Akira laughing.

"Well, I might take up some hobby and besides, its never too late to start a family" he said.

"I see - TRING!"

This time Abhijeet picked up the phone without asking for Akira's permission.

"Yes what is it?" he spoke.

"You won't believe this Abhijeet! We managed to get our hands on Raghu. We have the sketch of the person who paid Raghu to kill Mohan" Daya said in an urgent voice.

"Any idea who he is?" asked Abhijeet.

"No, we just ran his sketch through the criminal database but we haven't got any matches. But -"

"Hello? Hello? Damn it!" Abhijeet swore angrily. His cellphone's screen was blank. The phone was dead.

"Excuse me" he said to Akira and without waiting for her reply, he walked over to where Tarika was sitting.

"Tarika, dial Daya's number quickly! I want to talk to him. It's about the case" he said.

Without any further ado, Tarika handed him her cellphone.

"Daya... my phone's dead. What were you telling me?" Abhijeet said as soon as Daya picked up the phone

"Are you and Tarika together?" Daya asked in a surprised voice.

"Um not really. Its a long story. Later" said Abhijeet hastily.

"Oh yeah right so I was saying that we have the sketch of the person who told Raghu to shoot Mohan. The face... I think I have seen it somewhere but I can't remember for sure that's the problem." said Daya.

"Can you send it on Tarika's phone?" Abhijeet asked him.

"Yes, give me a sec." Daya said. "Dude... I know I've seen this man somewhere. I just... there, check of you've got it."

"Yes, I have" said Abhijeet as he heard the email received tone. "I will call you back if I remember anything."

As soon as he disconnected the call, Tarika asked, "what's wrong?"

"Any problem sir?" Vaibhav inquired.

"No, its just the case we were working on. Hey do you mind if I..." Abhijeet said looking at Tarika.

"Oh no sir" said Vaibhav.

"What?" Tarika questioned as she followed Abhijeet away from the table.

"Daya has this sketch. This person gave money to contract killer Raghu to kill Mohan. Daya thinks the face in sketch is familiar but he is not able how remember exactly. You think you know this person?" Abhijeet asked her as he opened the email attachment.

Tarika stared at the sketch for a moment and then shrugged. "Nope. I don't think so"

"Me neither" said Abhijeet frowning slightly.

"So now what? Did he run this through criminal database?" asked Tarika.

"Yep. Negative. No matches" said Abhijeet still staring at the picture.

A minute later, he handed her cellphone back. "My cellphone battery is dead. If Daya calls -"

"Yeah, no problem" said Tarika and both of them walked back to their respective tables.

"It is over now?" Akira asked. She looked slightly irritated.

"Yes, I - look I am really sorry." Abhijeet apologised.

"That's fine. It's just that you haven't even eaten. And I am halfway done with starters." said Akira.

"Oh, that's okay. I will eat" said Abhijeet. A minute passed in silence and then Abhijeet stood up suddenly as he had a brainwave.

"What?" Akira said in alarm, her soup spoon suspended in mid - air.

"I - I'll be back." he said and almost ran over to Tarika.

"Really, that's the most amazing thing about him but-"

"what if we remove his moustache and beard  
?" Abhijeet said sounding excited and out of breath.

"Wha-"

"That man in the sketch!" said Abhijeet before Tarika could finish her sentence. "What if we remove his moustach and beard? How will he look like? You have that application right?"

"Yes, wait one minute" said Tarika and then seconds later - "Oh my god! Abhijeet you are right! Just look at this!" she said and thrust her cellphone in Abhijeet's hand.

"That's the CEO of UV Industries!" Abhijeet almost shouted. "I have to tell Daya... no hell I think I will get back to bureau."

"I'll come with you" said Tarika.

"What? No, it's -"

"Oh come on Abhijeet. I have worked on this case too! And this was one hell of a twist. Who knows you Dr Salunkhe might need me."

"Okay, okay but..." Abhijeet glanced at Vaibhav who was staring at them.

"If you want shall we continue this later?" Vaibhav asked Tarika. He looked expectant.

"Oh yes! Thank you so much Vaibhav. I will give you a call later" said Tarika.

"Wha - oh right" said Vaibhav quite taken aback by Tarika's response.

"Um.. Abhijeet, I just got a call. I need to go. I can't stay right now." came Akira's voice from behind them.

"Oh, yes. We will meet again. Later and sorry" Abhijeet said to her.

"Well, bye Abhijeet" Akira said and walked away without another glance at him.

"Let's go. We don't have time to waste" said Abhijeet and together they marched off towards the car park.

* * *

Abhijeet was sitting at his desk, staring at his comouter screen when He heard a sound of approaching footsteps. As he turned his swivel chair around, he saw Tarika approaching him, still in her evening dress.

"Hey, you still here?" she asked him.

"Yup, waiting for this stupid computer to shut down. Don't know what's gotten into this one. Takes ages" said Abhijeet.

"Memory problem apparantly" said Tarika. "So the suspense finally ends"

"Yes, it was CEO of UV Industries. He gave orders to Raghu to kill Mohan and the courier boy." said Abhijeet.

"Yeah, Salunkhe sir told me." said Tarika. "The drug was not a success, wasn't it?"

"Yes, UV Industries were claiming that they had successfully developed a drug which stopped the cancer from growing. But actually they were fooling people. The drug slowed the cancer growth. It didn't stop the cancer from spreading. And while Mohan worked in UV Industries as a corporate spy, he found out about this. Before he could tell his former boss about this however, he own secret came to light and he was suspended from his job. They brought a restraining order against him due to which Mohan could not communicate to any of his colleagues or friends" said Abhijeet.

"Mohan knew that his former company was anyway going off the grid and he too was going away for a long time." said Tarika.

"Yes but he had the proofs that the drug made by UV industries was a fake one. So he decided to use this for his own benefit. Mohan blackmailed the CEO of UV Industries and to protect his secret, they agreed to pay him money till he served his jail sentence. They used their associate company to pay him as additional cover. Initially the agreement was that SV industries would pay Mohan till his release from prison. But then Mohan refused to honor their agreement and the CEO threatened to kill him. Mohan knew his life was in danger so he told his father to send the proofs to ACP sir one day before his release from prison. But Raghu on orders of the CEO prevented that and stole the proofs and killed Mohan." said Abhijeet.

"But how did you find those proofs?" asked Tarika.

"We went with search warrant. We found the proofs hidden in his office. Then we did a little CID style questioning and he came clear. Raghu too identified the CEO. He had no option but to confess to his crime." Abhijeet.

"So what happens now?" asked Tarika.

"Raghu and the CEO will face jail sentence. Also there will be an official legal enquiry into the company" said Abhijeet.

"Wow, this was one hell of a case" said Tarika.

"Totally" said Abhijeet. "Um but why are you still working late?"

"Salunkhe sir roped me into doing some more tests for another case. You know the double murder case of the business tycoon and his wife?" said Tarika making a face.

"Oh yeah how can I forget that one? That case is pain in the ass." said Abhijeet as Tarika laughed.

"I came down to hand these files to Purvi." said Tarika.

"She left a few minutes ago" said Abhijeet.

"I'll leave them on her desk. God, I am terribly hungry!" said Tarika.

"Now you mention it, me too! I didn't really have dinner there" Abhijeet agreed. "Glad I didn't though. I don't see what the fuss is all about. I didn't like the food at La cirque"

"Yes! That's exactly what I thought! Vaibhav was going gaga over it. I mean,the decor was fine but that was all. The food was not at all good" said Tarika.

"To add to my woes, Akira just couldn't understand that emergencies can cause a CID officer's cellphone to ring anywhere and any number of times! She was hoping that I would ignore Daya's calls and start admiring the evening or something! People just don't understand the seriousness of situations sometimes." said Abhijeet.

"Oh god, and you know what? Vaibhav thought that the entire time I was there, I kept talking about how you were a stalker and were refusing to accept the fact." said Tarika.

Abhijeet opened his mouth to argue but Tarika said, "Let's not do this right now. I guess both of us are too tired"

"Oh... yes... right... no actually I was going to say that - that people just don't know how to behave on first dates!" said Abhijeet.

"I know right! You know we shouldn't have gone out with these two. They are not our type." said Tarika.

"Exactly. Akira is definitely not my type" agreed Abhijeet. "And I am never going to La Cirque again. Ever. You know this burger barn café in the next block? It has better food than that expensive crap"

"Are you kidding me? Burger Barn Café has the most amazing burgers and coffee in the entire universe!" said Tarika. "Okay, now I am really hungry" said Abhijeet.

"Speaking of which..." Tarika said checking her watch, "If we hurry, we will be able to get something. It's 11.40 pm. The café closes at 12." She looked at him, her eyes beaming, "What do you think? Are you ready for a little night jog?"

"Absoultely! I am in" said Abhijeet.

 **END**


End file.
